In view of the increased construction of fresh water reservoirs across Asia, reservoir fish production holds considerable potential as a means of wide scale food production. Reservoir fisheries involves the management of fish resources, fish culture, and fish capture. To increase fish production in reservoirs - which occurs naturally - increased priority must be given to: reasonable stocking rates of large size fingerlings, instillation of reliable and effective fish barriers, effective elimination of harmful organisms, enhancement of economic fishery resources, application of effective fishing gear and methods, development of cage and pen fish-culture based on local conditions, and development of integrated fish-farming systems (eg fish-livestock-forestry or fish-agriculture-livestock).
Since the end of World War II, China has developed a considerable amount of knowledge about fish production in reservoirs. An estimated 1.44 x 10 million ha of reservoirs are used for fishery production in China, and average anual production is 214kg/ha. An extensive production system for fishery production has evolved.